Ebola virus disease

It has been suggested that [[::Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa|Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa]] be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

[The outbreak is] the greatest peacetime challenge that the United Nations and its agencies have ever faced. ~ Margaret Chan, Ebola virions

Ebola virus disease (EVD), Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) or simply Ebola is a disease of humans and other mammals caused by an ebolavirus. Symptoms start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a fever, sore throat, muscle pain, and headaches. Typically, vomiting, diarrhea, and rash follow, along with decreased function of the liver and kidneys. Around this time, affected people may begin to bleed both within the body and externally. Death usually occurs within 7 to 16 days due to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome or hypovolemic shock.

Since the mid-1970s, more than 30 new diseases have emerged, including AIDS, Ebola, Lyme disease and SARS. Most of these are believed to have moved from wildlife to human populations.

Mary Pearl president of the Wildlife Trust in a Newsweek magazine interview. Awake! magazine, article: Will Science Cure the World?, January 2007.

It's a very scarydisease—kills people in a horrible way—and had there been an epidemic here, it would've been a terrible thing. But, only two people caughtEbola here in America; neitherdied. Even in West Africa, where there was an epidemic, more people were killed by other diseases like the flu. When the scare was at its peak, I tried to provoke the women on the Fox show Outnumbered by saying this: "This is an overhyped risk being pumped by news media like us." … Again, without putting up walls, no American caught Ebola here and died from it. By contrast, a hundred Americans were killed by deer this year.